Secret Santa
by Miss Starfire
Summary: Secret Santa this; Secret Santa that. Secret Santa bliss; Secret Santa chat. Secret Santa list; Secret Santa hat. Secret Santa glee; Secret Santa spat. Secret Santa excitement was everywhere in the halls. But for Tony Stark, Secret Santa hit him in the - READ AND FIND OUT! (One shot)


**A/N:** Extremely predictable plotline, but I hope you still enjoy. The timeline for this story is the last December before the Makluan Invasion. For this story, I'm assuming the Makluan tried taking over the world around February or March, so this story takes place in the middle of their last school year.

My stories are better enjoyed in half-screen version of FF.

**Disclaimer:** Psh, yeah, as if I could own Iron Man: Armored Adventures.

* * *

**Secret Santa**

To Tony Stark, school was pointless, and if it had not been because his father's will had demanded that he graduated from high school in order to inherit Stark International, he would have never agreed to stick around. School was so easy for him it was painful, and he knew that if it was not for the fact that he had made friends in school – and some enemies, too – it would have most certainly been the death of him.

How ironic! A plane crash had not killed him and neither had any of his Iron Man enemies, but at some point he believed school would have. At first it had been amusing to him confirming he was ahead of the curve, but that expected surprised had quickly lost its charm, leaving behind nothing more than a sense of lost time.

He was counting down the months – there were not that many left, anyway – for graduation. He still had at least five more months to go until the end of the mindless waste of time that school was for him. The closest break he would get from the hell he was living, however, was only two weeks from today and it would come in the form of a winter holiday break.

Last year he had spent his school days trying to find his place in the world after his father's passing and his adoption by the Rhodes family, and now as both Iron Man and the leader of a rather odd trio of teens, he was starting to finally get in tune with all of the school traditions…all of them, except this particular one.

"Tell me again," he looked to his left at Rhodey. "Why do we _have_ to do this?"

"Tradition, Tony." The boy responded as if it was obvious to anyone else but the genius before him – and it actually was, he knew for a fact. They still had about ten more minutes of homeroom period left, and the entire class was waiting on the teacher to start the name drawing for the dreaded activity Tony was not looking forward to engaging in. "It's our senior year, so it's the last time we get to celebrate Christmas in school."

"So? What's the big deal? I haven't celebrated Christmas in…ever…" His words trailed when he remembered that the last time he had celebrated the holiday; it had definitely not been the most wonderful time of the year for him. "It just sounds to me like an assignment in disguise."

"An assignment? Have you ever done a gift exchange?" Rhodey asked his friend.

"Well, duh, I have!" He retorted with a snort. "Last year I gave you and Pepper gifts for Christmas, remember? Plus the times you guys' birthdays have come up, you've gotten something from me."

"Not_ that_ kind of exchange, genius. Secret Santa is a little bit different."

"Not by much," Tony argued. "The only difference is that you don't know whose going to give you the gift. In my opinion, I think it's stupid. It's so…_impersonal_."

"Impersonal? What do _you_ know about being personal about things? You're the least knowledgeable person I know when it comes to people's feelings."

"Rude much?" he groaned.

"Rude much?" Rhodey quoted the inventor with an arched brow and a knowing smirk. "You're starting to sound like Pepper. I wonder why."

"Who's starting to sound like me?" The approaching redhead asked and sat next to the inventor's right side.

"Nobody," Tony immediately responded with a glare toward Rhodes to warn the young man not to say anything that could embarrass him in front of the redhead – again. "So, Pepper," Tony's gaze shifted to the girl. "What do you think about this Secret Santa, deal?"

Pepper shrugged. "I'm kinda on the fence on this one. I'd much rather do this only with you guys, but I'm not going to say no to tradition and especially not during senior year. Although, it's does feel kinda of impersonal, if you ask me, to have to find a gift for someone you don't even know."

"Impersonal?" Rhodey snickered despite Tony's glare toward him. "Pepper, I think you're spending too much time with Tony. You're starting to think like him."

"Puh-lease," the ginger waved her hand dismissively. "If I started thinking like Tony, I wouldn't need to study."

"Alright class!" The homeroom teacher called from the front, grabbing the immediate attention of everyone in the room. "We've only got a few minutes left before the bell rings, so let's get this started, shall we? Let's start with you," she pointed to the first person in the far left row. "Just come to the front, pick your name, and don't tell anyone who you've got. OK?"

One by one each student in the class walked up to the front where the teacher held a black bag filled with everyone's names. It took the rest of the period to finish the task, and seconds before the bell rang, the final person was returning to their seat, name in hand.

"Very well," the teacher clasped her hands. "You all know the rules. Don't tell anyone who you've got, and make sure your gift is not more expensive than $20. If you don't know the person you're gifting to – although, after being in the same homeroom for four years, I don't see why you wouldn't," she added in a mumble. "Then this is the time to get to know him or her better. Good luck!"

As soon as her words ended, the bell rang to dismiss the class. Slowly, the students streamed out of the classroom and into the halls, scattering around to reach the locations of their lockers to get ready for the first class of the day. Tony joined Pepper and Rhodey at their lockers more out of habit since he kept no books inside his locker.

"So," Pepper whispered, her eyes shifting left and right as if looking for potential and unwanted witnesses. "Who did you guys get?"

"Seriously?" Rhodey rolled his eyes and slammed his locker shut. "It hasn't even been a minute since we left the room and you're already breaking the rules?"

Pepper scoffed and held her book closer to her chest. "There are no such things as rules, only guidelines. Besides, it HAS been a minute," she stared down at her watch. "A minute and thirteen seconds, to be exact."

"Forget it, Pepper," Tony said and took out two cups of soda from the "vending machine," he had turned his locker into and handed one to the eager ginger who took it from him with a thankful smile. Tony had been strangely attentive to her lately, but the redhead attributed it to the fact that he was just trying to make it up to her after not telling her about his relationship with Whitney even though that relationship had ended in a break up a few weeks ago. "Rhodey's never going to tell you who he's got."

"And neither should you," Rhodey frowned. "It's not fun when you know who you have; it takes away from the surprise. It only takes _one_ person spilling the beans and next thing you know, everyone knows who everyone has and people start swapping names; defeats the entire purpose."

"You can swap names?" Tony asked after taking a sip of his drink, suddenly interested in this new piece of information. "When can I do that?"

"Never," Rhodey warned. "Don't mess it up, Tony."

"Mess _what_ up? This is pointless. And a 20-bucks limit? What am I supposed to get my person? A pack of used gum?"

"Twenty dollars is a decent limit," Rhodey argued. "Especially if you already know what the perfect gift for the person you've got is going to be."

"Perfect gift? Who the heck did _you_ get, Rhodey?" Pepper asked. "Ooh! I bet it's that girl, what's-her-name? The one that you like!"

"Who?" Tony smirked. "Oh! THAT girl! Julia or some other," he nudged Pepper's ribs and winked at her.

"That's the one!" Pepper nodded at the inventor, quickly catching on with Tony's intent to annoy Rhodey, and the ginger was glad to jump onto the wagon. "What are you getting her, huh? Flowers? Candy? A giant teddy bear? A star name after her?"

"It's Christmas, Pepper, not Valentine's," Rhodey said defensively and folded his arms.

"Oh-oh! Is that what you're getting her for Valentine's, then?" The ginger asked him and her smile widened when she heard Tony chuckle behind her.

"PEPPER!" Rhodey growled. "Just, drop it, alright?"

"Fine!" she groaned and crossed her arms over her chest. "But I have my eye on you, on EVERYONE," she pointed at Tony and Rhodey with narrowed eyes. "I _will_ find out who has who."

"_Whom_, Pep," Tony said, took the single book from her arms to carry it for her, grabbed her by her wrist and began their walk to their next class together. "Who has _whom_."

"Whatever," she said but allowed Tony to lead her down the hall. "See you next class, Rhodey!" she waved at the boy over her shoulder and soon both she and Tony disappeared around the corner.

xxxXXXxxx

Their second period had ended rather uneventfully and Tony had had to put up with more conversations about the Secret Santa activity from his classmates, Pepper Potts included. The redhead had tried learning from the inventor who his Secret Santa person was, but the brunette refused to let her know if only to enjoy the way she looked as she grew frustrated for not getting what she wanted from him.

"I don't understand you, Tony," she whined as she followed the inventor up the stairs to the roof for their free period. "You were mocking Rhodey this morning about not telling us who he's got, and yet you're doing the same thing to me."

Tony held open the door for her and she walked outside, immediately regretting leaving the warmth of the building. "Uh, why don't we just go back where we came from?" she stated and rubbed her arms up and down.

"Why? It's so warm down there it feels stuffy," Tony retorted and began walking to the corner of the roof behind the water tower.

"I didn't bring my jacket," she replied. "I forgot it was cold out here."

Tony looked down at himself and realized he himself did not have a jacket to offer her as he was not that cold anyhow; his metal heart prevented him from feeling chilly as quickly as other people would have. The redhead remained standing by the door, looking back and forth between where Tony sat on the ground and the exit of the roof, debating on whether or not to run down to her locker to get her jacket and then come back. Her decision was made for her, however, when Tony called her name and patted the spot on the floor next to him, adding one of his charming smiles to seal the deal for her.

Pepper would have sighed loudly in defeat if her teeth had not started chattering but she still walked over to Tony and sat next to him. The boy immediately surrounded her shoulders with his right arm and pulled her closer to him. He then noticed she was rubbing her hands against themselves to warm them up, so he rolled his eyes and used his left hand to grab one of hers and took it to his mouth, breathing warm air into it. "It's not_ that_ cold, Pep."

Pepper felt warmth spreading all over her body, as if his simple touch had the ability to melt the cold away from her. Being hugged – _touched_, by Tony in different ways was not all that rare, but for some reason his current actions did not seem to fit the bill of what their time together had been so far. Nevertheless, it certainly did not imply that she did not like the gesture, but it did frustrate her to some degree since receiving mixed signals from him was becoming more and more commonplace as of late. She bit the inside of her mouth to stop the nervous giggle that was threatening to come out of her and she had to remove her eyes from his attempts at warming up her hands if she wanted to hold the blush at bay. "What do you know about being cold? And don't change the topic. Who did you get?"

"I'm not telling you," he answered and continued warming up her hands by grabbing the other one and repeating the process.

"Why the hell not?"

"Because if I tell you, then you'll tell Rhodey, and then I'm going to have to listen to his whining all day at home."

"You could just _not_ tell him I know, you know?"

"OR, I could just _not_ tell _you_ anything, Pepper."

"Ugh! You suck, Tony," she said before she pulled her hand away from him and placed them between her bent knees. "I guess I'll have to start my research with Happy. I'll ask him out and he'll tell me who he's got."

"Happy?" Tony asked and looked down at her curling form under his arm. "I thought that, uhm… you guys still going out?" The boy genius asked with a tint of jealousy in his voice.

After breaking up with Whitney, he had sincerely thought Pepper would stop seeing Hogan altogether since he was not oblivious to the fact that the redhead had started dating the jock to spite him. He had to admit it had worked for a while even though he refused to blatantly tell her of such, and the more Pepper had gone out with him, the more it seemed as if it was getting serious between them, which scared the bejesus out of him. He was not going to ask her out himself anytime soon – or ever – but that did not mean he wanted to see her go out with someone else. If he was completely honest with himself, he liked the attention she gave him and he was selfish enough not to want to share it – share _her_, with someone else.

Just as he had to resign himself to do so when Gene was around.

He was yet to hear about Happy and Pepper going out for a couple of weeks now, however, and he was shocked to hear that she was still somewhat interested in seeing the clueless boy.

"I don't know. I don't think so," she began, closed her eyes and pressed her shivering body closer to Tony's. It was getting so cold now that even her eyeballs hurt. "He hasn't asked me out in a while, and he stopped texting me at night a few days ago."

"Texting you at night?" he pulled her even closer to him by using both of his arms to embrace her now. "What, uhm, what did he text you about?"

"Nothing important," she shrugged. "Just…stuff."

"Stuff? What kind of stuff? Stuff is a rather broad term."

Pepper could not help to open her eyes again and stared up at her friend despite the short distance between them, a questioning look on her features. "Why all the sudden interest in my texting with Happy?"

"I'm not interested," he looked away. "Just curious, that's all. What could he possibly say to you at night that he couldn't tell you while at school? Or, better yet, wait until the morning."

Pepper smirked at him, closed her eyes and leaned against him again. "If I didn't know any better, Tony, I'd say you're jealous."

Tony tried to scoff but what came out sounded more like a combination of a whine and a whimper. "Good thing you _do_ know better."

"I do, and I do know better than to stay here with you. I appreciate the effort and all, but I'm about to turn into a _Potts_icle."

Tony frowned. He was starting to get a tad cold himself by now, but he was not happy about going back inside. They still had more than half of their free period left, and if they went downstairs that meant he would not find another spot to be alone with her, something he had wanted more and more often now and was getting less and less. "Why don't I go get our jackets and come back? There isn't much to do inside, anyway."

"As opposed to the loads of stuff to do up here?" she countered with a wave of her palm over the area where they sat. "We can go to the cafeteria and get some hot chocolate, hang around there instead."

"I don't want to hear people talk about this stupid Secret Santa thing, and I'm sure that's all people are talking about in there. Just give me a minute and I will be right back. Have you changed the combination for your locker since you last told it to me?"

"Nope," she answered and felt the wind chill hit harder when he stood up. "But hurry up, Tony. If you're not back in two minutes, I'm going back inside."

"Two minutes, got it," he said with a smile before he turned around and ran down the stairs. He avoided students left and right, and made it to their lockers in record time. He grabbed both of their jackets, closed the lockers and ran down the hall. On his way past the cafeteria he stopped, an idea coming to mind. He checked his watch and saw he still had a minute and half, so he sped inside the food court faster than the speed of light.

It only took him forty-five seconds to buy them both a cup of hot chocolate for each, and by the time he returned to the roof his two minutes were up. He opened the door with his back, his jacket already on, hers draped over his right shoulder and a cup of the steamy liquid in either hand. "Hey, Pep, look what I…brought…?"

The first thing he noticed was that Pepper was no longer where he had left her, and instead was standing a few feet from him by the entrance to the roof. The second thing he noticed was that they were no longer alone, as a guy who he swore he had seen somewhere before was placing his thick jacket over her shoulders. Tony's entrance almost stopped the boy midway in his task, but he still finished putting it on the redhead before pulling the lapels together over her chest. "Is that better?"

"Yes, Mark, thank you," she answered before staring at Tony. "Hey, you made it! What is that in your hands?"

Tony's serious face did not disappear even though she was smiling at him. He walked over to her, handed her a cup and her eyes immediately lit up. He then eyed the_ intruder_ up and down and then the intruder's jacket over Pepper before he placed his cup on the floor and began unfolding the redhead's garment he still had on his shoulder. "Here, Pep."

He helped her take off the one Mark had lent her and all but shoved it back to the boy. He then helped the ginger put on her pink jacket and held her cup when needed. "Thanks, Tony. This is great," she said to him and blew some steam off the beverage. "Oh, by the way, this is Mark. We all have homeroom together."

_Ah_, Tony thought. _That is where I know this guy from._

"We haven't spoken much," Mark shrugged and extended his hand toward Tony. The inventor shook it more out of saving face than anything else, but he did notice that the intruder did not even look at him when the handshake took place; Mark's eyes were glued on Pepper. "It's a shame we didn't before. Pepper here seems quite nice."

"Well, we still have the rest of the school year, right? Maybe we can hang out sometime?" The ginger offered, never once giving up on the opportunity to make new friends. Friends were the only thing left for her after her parents divorced and her dad started losing himself in his work. If it had not been for friends – particularly Tony and Rhodey, she would have been even more miserable than she sometimes felt.

"That'd be great. Well, I have to get back down. It was a pleasure meeting you, Pepper." He leaned toward the girl and gave her a quick, friendly hug and peck on the cheek. "Tony," he nodded to the inventor but did not try to shake his hand again. "Bye, you two." He said before walking up to the door and closing it behind him.

"Mmhhh," the ginger moaned in happiness and licked her lips. "This hot chocolate is soooo good." She turned on her heel and began walking back to where they had sat on the ground before, and after Tony's eyes metaphorically dug holes in the door Mark had just used to leave, he picked up his cup from the ground and walked over to the ginger to resume his position next to her.

The smile on Pepper's face did not disappear at all while they were drinking their beverage in silence, and Tony truly hoped it was not due to the intruder making Pepper's day. "What are you so happy about?"

"Oh, nothing," she sing-songed. "I just found out who has my name for Secret Santa."

"What? Who? How?"

"What do you mean 'who'? Mark!"

"Mark? The guy that just left?"

"Yup."

_Hell, no!_ The inventor's face said it all. "How do you know? Did he tell you?"

"He didn't _need_ to tell me. It's obvious. Like he said, we haven't really spoken before and all of a sudden he's interested in getting to know me? He _so_ has my name."

The Secret Santa activity had just gotten that much worse for Tony; much, much worse. "Maybe he has my name," he offered. "Maybe he just knows you and I are together and wants to ask you what to get me."

"T-together?" She almost dropped her cup.

"Uh," he gulped. "Yeah, uhm, together all the time, I meant to say."

"Right," she said and looked away from him and cleared her throat. "I really don't think he has you, and if he does, he's so screwed."

"Jeez, Pep. That's nice. Thanks."

She shook her head and patted his leg lightly in an apologetic manner. "Not like that, dork. I meant to say that he's screwed because what is he going to get the kid who has everything? And for $20? Your hair gel costs more than 20 bucks."

Tony self-consciously took his left hand to his hair for a second before speaking again. "I don't have everything."

"Really? What are you missing?"

"Well, I'm technically an orphan, for one. An old geezer is controlling my dad's company that should've been mine, and I have an electromagnet for a heart."

Pepper remained silent for a moment, sipping into her drink in deep thought. "Yeah," she finally said. "If he has you, he's screwed."

"If he does ask you, tell him he should just get me a gift card."

"A gift card? That's so lame."

"Lame? Well, what are you getting your person, huh?"

She shrugged. "I'm not sure, yet. It'll come to me. We have two weeks, right? That's plenty of time to find out."

"Find out? So, you don't know the person you got either? Who is it?"

Pepper scoffed. "I'm so not telling you, Stark! You didn't tell me so HA! I ain't telling either."

"Fine!" he spat. "I didn't want to know, anyway."

"Sure you didn't."

"Sure I don't."

"Whatever."

"Who cares?"

"I'm sure."

"I'm surer."

"I thought you were Tony."

"I…uh…what?"

The confused look on his face made her laugh aloud, and he soon joined in even if he had no clue what he had done to make her happy. Sadly for them the warning bell rang, and they had to go back to class. He stood up first and helped her up, and then walked her downstairs and to class, hand-in-hand.

xxxXXXxxx

"Pepper, I've never seen you take notes during Chemistry class," a shocked James Rhodes said and leaned over to take a better look at the paper she was scribbling on. He then furrowed his brows when he realized that what she was writing were not notes, but a sketch.

Of homeroom.

With everyone's names on it.

And their potential Secret Santa's names next to each.

"Seriously, Pepper? You're making a diagram of the class now?"

"Ssh," she placed her pencil over her lips. "You're distracting me."

Rhodey sighed, rolled his eyes and looked back at the front of the class. Tony, who was to Rhodey's right, was also sketching on a piece of paper, but in his case they were designs for armor upgrades, and when Rhodey found out about it he sighed even louder. "Don't you people take class seriously?"

"Nope," came the unison response from the redhead and the inventor, their heads down and their eyes glued to their sketches.

"You two so belong with each other," Rhodey mumbled but was overheard by Andy behind him, and he did not sound pleased by it.

"You are wrong. Anthony Stark and Pepper Potts are not meant to be together. She's too good for him; I know that for a fact."

Andy's words made both teens stop their doodling and stared behind them at Andy and Rhona. The gothic dynamic duo's faces were as expressionless as ever, acting as if Andy had not just offended the young genius.

"Did he just insult me by complimenting you?" Tony asked, pointing to Pepper with the eraser on is pencil.

"That's what it sounded like," she retorted. "It's OK, Tony. You're not that bad. You're a jerk, yes, but not that bad."

Tony glared at her and she just smiled before blowing him a kiss, catching the inventor by surprise.

"Just ignore them, Tony, or we'll get in trouble," she added and returned her gaze to her homeroom map as if she had not blatantly flirted with the blue-eyed boy.

"That's easy for you to say. You weren't the one insulted." He also returned to his sketch but could not remember what he was supposed to be doing with it anymore, his mind focused solely on the kiss he had just been "thrown."

"Is this y'alls version of foreplay or what? Shut up already or we're all going to get detention."

"You're moody today, Rhodey," the redhead pointed out. "I'm starting to think that you don't have Julia after all," she added and placed a question mark next to his name on her sketch. "This is going to be tough."

"Julia?" Andy laughed. "That's who I got."

The smile on Pepper's face could not be wider, and she immediately adjusted her sketch. "One down, 10 to go!"

xxxXXXxxx

Finally in his lab, Tony worked on creating the blueprints for the upgrades he had planned for the armor during Chemistry class. He had been working like crazy since he had arrived from school, trying to push from his mind several unwanted thoughts, one of which was of having to find a gift for his Secret Santa person: the one and only Rhona. His day had gone from bad to worse, culminating when Pepper told him she could not come to the lab straight after school with him because Mark had asked her out to have coffee together.

And she had accepted, although not for the reasons the inventor believed them to be.

"From all the people I could've got," he whispered angrily. "Why her? Why not Rhodey, or Pepper? Hell, I'd have taken Mandarin at this point."

He pushed himself from the work table and slid on the ground while sitting in the rolling chair and did not stop until he was in front of the computer. "Why didn't I get Pepper? It'd be so much easier that way. And why did she accept to…ugh!"

Granted, he did not know what to get her yet, but it would make the experience so much better for him to have the fiery redhead as his gifting partner rather than some girl that still hissed at him in the halls.

"_Too good for me_, my iron butt," he added after the memory of what Andy had said returned to him. "She's not too good for me. She's…she's just…"

"Perfect?" Rhodey said as he walked inside the lab. "Maybe you do have the ability to care for someone other than yourself. I'm impressed. And I feel like puking a little, too."

Tony glared at his friend before shaking his head and returning his eyes to the screen before him. "Are you here to poke fun at me? Because I'm not in the mood to put up with it."

"Obviously. I mean, if a weird, gothic kid was crushing on the girl _I_'ve been secretly crushing on, then I guess I'd be as pissed off as you are right now."

"I'm _not _crushing on Pepper."

"Sure you're not," Rhodey walked over to the command chair and sat in it. "You're just…what? Being a good friend?"

"Yes. I _am_ being a good friend. Andy is not good enough for her."

"Wait, what? I thought that's what Andy said about you," he said in a fake confused tone before pulling out his portable gaming device from his jeans' pocket and began playing with it. "Who's good enough for her, then? Mark? Happy? Gene?"

"Rhodey, I swear if you don't drop this…"

"What? You'll…kick me out?"

"If you're lucky," the inventor said in a menacing tone.

Rhodey was taken aback by his response and furrowed his brows. He was no stranger to Tony being angry, but what he was seeing in him right now was not only ire but something more. He was not afraid Tony would actually hurt him, and when the scientist got as mad as he was at the moment he did not think his moves would be very coordinated, which had always worked in Rhodey's favor since they were kids as his victory was practically assured as soon as he made Tony this mad. "Dude, is something wrong?"

"Drop it, jerk."

"Hey, _dumbass,_ I'm honestly worried about you. I thought you were just being pissy but now I'm not so sure. Did you and Pepper have a fight?"

"No. Pepper and I are fine."

"Are you sure?" Rhodey stood up from the chair. "You're acting as if you guys, I don't know, broke up?"

"We didn't break up. We…we aren't dating…"

"Yet. And you won't ever if you let other guys keep asking her out. Pepper's not bad to stare at, you know? I mean, she's not my type, but that don't mean she's not somebody else's type."

Tony stopped fiddling with the computer, stood up, threw his head back, let out a colorful string of swear words and then turned to face Rhodey who was now a few feet away from him, arms folded over his chest. "What do you want from me, Rhodey?"

"Just want to know what I can do to help you," he shrugged. "Is this all because of Secret Santa? If so, you're exaggerating a little bit, aren't you?"

"Of course it's not about Secret Santa! Don't be ridiculous."

"Then, it's about…what? Pepper?"

"It's not about Pepper. Will you stop bringing her into this?"

"So, are you just hating anything that lives now or what gives?"

"Will you get off my back? I'm just having a bad day, alright?"

"A bad day because of the Secret Santa and Mark hitting on Pepper behind your back?"

"RHODEY!"

"Dude, will you just tell her you like her?"

"I don't like her."

"You don't like her? Then why do you hang around with her?" Rhodey pressed, wanting nothing more for the cat to be out of the bag.

"Because I like her!"

"But you just said you don't."

"What? Are you five today? Pepper is my friend. Of course I like her…a lot," he mumbled the last part.

"And is your big brain taking an off day today? You like her more than just for that. You have for a while, so stop moping around and tell her before she ends up dating someone else, AGAIN. It's painful to see you two beat around the bush."

Tony flared his nostrils, wanting nothing more than to tell Rhodey he was wrong but he knew he was not. Yet, he refused to acknowledge anything to anyone – he was having a difficult time accepting the truth himself and not because he did not want to like Pepper, but because of what it entailed. "I got Rhona." He blurted out to change the conversation.

"What?"

"My Secret Santa person; it's Rhona."

Rhodey pursed his lips. He instantly felt really bad for his friend; he truly did, but the bout of uncontrollable laughter that was building inside of him was more powerful than his pity for the billionaire. Before he could stop it, Rhodey's hands flew to his knees and he bent over in laughter.

"Oh, my _God_! You have the worst luck! I mean, I really didn't want to know who you had but…dang! You're life officially sucks, T!"

"Yeah, yeah, laugh it out. You aren't in a better boat than me, Rhodey."

"How…" he took in deep breath. "How do you figure?"

"Andy's got Julia."

And as suddenly as the laughter had come, it had stopped.

xxxXXXxxx

Secret Santa this; Secret Santa that.

Secret Santa bliss; Secret Santa chat.

Secret Santa list; Secret Santa hat.

Secret Santa glee; Secret Santa spat.

Secret Santa excitement was everywhere in the halls.

But for Tony Stark, Secret Santa hit him in the-

"Hi, Tony!" A smiling redhead approached him at his locker and hugged him, not letting go of him as she looked up at his face. "Did I miss anything yesterday?"

"Hi, Pep," he retorted and instinctively held her waist in his hands just as every other time she had jumped into his arms for no particular reason at all other than just being glad to see him. "No missions, if that's what you're asking. But, I do have a new hacking software I want to teach you how to use."

Pepper's eyes sparkled. "Are you serious? Oh, my gosh! Is it easier than the other one we already use? Will it let me hack into S.H.I.E.L.D.? Will it let me reroute an order of jetpacks to the Temple?"

Tony chuckled. "I don't know if it can do the last part, but it is easier than the other one we currently use. So, you wanna come over after school today and try it out?"

"YES!" she squealed but then immediately stopped. "No, wait. I can't today. Can we do it tomorrow?"

"Uh, sure. Do you have to go home early or something?"

"No, it's not that," she finally pulled away from him. "I kinda already have plans for today."

"Oh, OK. What are you doing?"

"I'm meeting up with Mark."

Tony's eyes widened. "Again?!"

"Yeah, is…is that a problem?" she asked, furrowing her brows.

"No, not at all," he rubbed the back of his neck. "It's just…didn't you guys just hang around yesterday? It's just…it's kinda weird hanging around with someone two days, back-to-back."

Pepper giggled and playfully slapped his arm. "Oh, come on, Tony! You, Rhodey and I hang around almost every day; even on weekends!"

"Well, yeah but, it's different."

"How is it different?"

"You _just_ met the guy. And, I don't know, there's some vibe I got from him yesterday that I didn't like."

"Vibe? What are you talking about? Are you sure it's not something _else_?" she asked in a hopeful tone, clutching her hands onto her chest. Her face denoted the same look she had given him when it had slipped out of him that he could kiss her for finding information on the Guardsmen before facing them and she had asked what had been stopping him. To be honest, and to this day, he still did not know what had and still did.

"Uh, I…" he gulped. Rhodey's words hit him like a ton of bricks but he refused to accept that his friend was in the right. There was no way he was going to lead her on; he cared more for their treasured friendship than he did for a possible faulty love life. He was Iron Man after all, and after Whitney he had learned his superhero duties would not allow for any type of serious relationship to grow. Even if he had wondered what it would be like to actually date the ginger, he did not want to put her through the same hell he had put Whitney through; he owed her more than that.

Here she was, however, staring up at him, wanting to hear the words he could not say, and all he could do was open and close his mouth like a dying fish searching for oxygen instead of coming clean with her and tell her it was never going to happen between them. Even if they both wanted it; even if it felt right. "I, uh…well, it's different because we never know when a mission is going to happen, so I need you in the lab every day in case something comes up."

"Oh," her shoulders deflated and her eyes stared down at the floor. "Is that all?"

Something inside him broke at seeing and hearing her disappointment pour out of her. He bit his tongue to keep from retorting what he actually wanted to say, and when he had his emotions in check he spoke. "Yes, Pepper. That's all."

"Well, then maybe you need to find someone else to be your friend," she said in an icy tone before pulling herself away from him and walking away. Tony did not follow her, too shocked when he realized what she had meant and too scared to tell her what was actually crossing his mind.

xxxXXXxxx

The rest of the school week had dragged on forever for the inventor, not only because the Secret Santa enthusiasm was growing to the point that it was being advertised everywhere in school, but because Pepper had not been speaking to him once since his slip-up three days ago. He had hoped that her anger would die out by the weekend when she realized she had nothing else to do Friday night, but here he was, still alone, and Pepper was definitely not showing signs of missing him at all.

Last time she had been this mad at him she had still hung around, had even gone to the lab and had used Rhodey to relay messages to the blue-eyed boy, even if the messages were of angry words. This time was different, however. This time, she had not bothered to even look at him or be around her locker when he was around his. This time, she had been acting as if he did not even exist; sitting as far away from him as she could in every class they had together. This time, she had gone too far because, well, so had he.

He was yet to try and apologize to her, and he knew this did not help defuse her anger one bit. He had wanted to apologize as soon as he had said the damned words, but his arrogant side had won that round. He had then wanted to apologize the next day and had waited for her to come to her locker, but she had already gotten her books before he had arrived to school. His next bout of guilt hit him when he had gone off on mission yesterday and it had only been Rhodey and he, and when Rhodey had found out from him what he had told Pepper that would make her not stop by the lab all week, even Rhodey had started keeping his distance from him.

"_You can be a real asshole sometimes, you know that?"_ Rhodey had told him and since then he had started calling him The Grouch. The worst consequence of their fight had hit him today when he had realized she had left an envelope taped to his locker containing the dollar and fifty cents he had paid for her hot chocolate on Monday and that simple action had stung. Along with the money, Pepper had included a slip of paper on which she had written a little rhyme:

_Tony Stark hates Christmas, the whole Christmas season.  
I don't know why, I see no good reason.  
It could be that his armor is too tight.  
Or maybe his helmet isn't screwed on just right.  
But I think the most likely reason of all,  
Is that his heart implant is two sizes too small._

That had stung even more than the returned money, and Tony felt even more depressed after reading it.

_Alone, like the Grouch I am_, Tony thought despondently.

Well, maybe he was not completely alone if you counted the fact that everyone other than Pepper had tried spending some time with him. It had started out with Mark spending time with Pepper, and the trend had quickly caught on to the point he had even seen Whitney Stane taking time to get to know the foreign exchange student whose name he could not remember…or pronounce.

He heard a familiar giggle behind him, and it took all of his willpower to not turn around. He knew what he would see and if it was not because he did not want to add detention to his weekend, he would have run out of the classroom by now. It was too early to see everyone around him in homeroom enjoying each other's company as they assisted the teacher in decorating the classroom with stockings, fake presents and even a fucking Christmas tree. He had been asked to bring a few decorations himself and even though he had brought some, he refused to help put them up.

"Hey, Tony, why aren't you helping out?" A boy, whose name Tony recently learned was Jack, asked the inventor with a surprised look. "You brought the best decorations! Why aren't you showing them off?"

"My religion does not allow me to celebrate Christmas," he lied. "But you guys have fun."

Jack eyed him suspiciously for an instant, wondering why someone who did not believe in Christmas would agree to participate in Secret Santa. Maybe Tony was trying to blend in, Jack thought, or maybe he was just trying to not be singled out. "Alright, Tony. Sorry about that."

The inventor shrugged and made a gesture with his hand that told the boy no feelings had been harmed. His eyes then looked at the slowly moving clock above the blackboard at the front of the classroom, and when his eyes looked away from the contraption, they automatically landed on the ginger who was no longer behind him.

She was currently up on a small step ladder, hanging some of the decorations he had brought for the tree. Near her stood Andy and Happy, both taking turns handing her the ornaments and helping her steady herself when she began to lose her balance every now and then. She was so happy she was almost glowing, and it was at that moment that Tony's mind played tricks on him.

Suddenly the room around him was no longer a classroom, but the living room back home – not the Rhodes' residence, but the Starks' mansion. The front of the classroom was now a large fireplace with four stockings hanging from it, and where the redhead had been seconds ago now stood Maria Stark. Howard Stark and a four year-old Tony Stark stood a few feet away from them, sorting through the boxes of Christmas ornaments that had just arrived.

_"Why do we have four stockings, Daddy?" Young Tony asked._

_ "I've already told you, Anthony. In a few days you're going to have a baby brother, so his stocking needs to be up with ours."_

_ "Really? But Christmas is in two days. How is Howie going to get a gift if he's not around? Does Santa know he's coming?"_

_ "Well, he might be coming home with Santa."_

_ "What?" Tony pouted. "That's not fair! How come he gets to come home with Santa and I didn't?"_

_ "Because you were born at a different time, Tony," Maria responded and walked down the step ladder. "And he's going to be your little brother, so he needs Santa's help to make it home."_

_ "But, what about me?" The boy did not cheer up._

_ "You didn't need Santa, Tony. And do you know why?" Maria asked and picked him up from the floor._

_ "Why, Mommy?"_

_ "Because you're going to be the big brother, and as a big brother you must be strong and tough so that you can show Howie how everything is supposed to be."_

_ "You mean…I get to teach him stuff?" His eyes sparkled._

_ "Yes. You're going to be his role model. Do you remember what that means, role model?"_

_ Tony, still in Maria's arms, tapped on his little chin with his index finger as he tried to remember the definition of the word his mother had just used. It took him a few seconds, but when he finally remembered, he smiled and lifted his arms above his head in excitement. "Yes, Mommy! I remember! It means he will try to do what I do!"_

_ "Yes, so you have to do good things so that Howie does good things, too."_

_ "OK, Mommy! I'll be good," Tony hugged his mother and she kissed his cheek before putting him back on the floor._

"Tony? Hey, Tony? Mr. Stark!"

The illusion before him suddenly disappeared and the inventor's head snapped up to see an angry teacher staring down at him. "Care to join the rest of the world, Mr. Stark? Or are you not done daydreaming?"

"Uhm," Tony's eyes searched Pepper's and she was eyeing him with a disappointed face. "I…I'm sorry," he said to his teacher while still staring at Pepper, and for a moment he wondered if he was apologizing to Ms. Robertson or to his ginger friend. "I…well…"

"Save it Mr. Stark. Now get up and join the rest of the class in our next activity."

"Activity? What activity?" Tony asked and stood up from his desk only to realize his was the only seat still in the middle of the room; everyone else's was in two concentric circles around the room. The desks in the inner circle faced the walls, and the desks in the outer circle faced the center of the classroom so that each desk faced each other.

"Just pick a seat and move yours out of the way," Ms. Robertson retorted as she walked to the front of the classroom and picked up a stopwatch from her desk. She waited for Tony to drag his desk to a corner of the room before he picked the only seat left in the outer circle and sat down.

"Alright, everyone. I know that you have been making the effort to talk to your Secret Santa person, but I know not everyone has been able to do so. As such, we will play a little game right now and until the end of the class. This game is called _Speed Dating_."

At the mention of the word 'date' some of the students began catcalling and whistling, but a shake of the teacher's head was enough to calm them down. "Not _that_ kind of dating, students. As you can see, we have evenly divided the seats so that six of you sit in the inner circle, and six of you sit in the outer one. When I ring the buzzer, you are going to have fifteen seconds to talk to the person in front of you about anything you want. Once the fifteen seconds are up I will ring the buzzer again and the inner circle people will stay where you are, and the outer circle people will swap circles to their left. You will then have fifteen more seconds to talk to your new person, and round and round we will go. At some point you are going to end up with the same person you started with, and that is one full revolution. We will do as many revolutions as we can until the end of class. Are you guys ready?"

While the rest of the class cheered, Tony's mind raced. They had roughly five minutes left, and at 15-second intervals per encounter and six people to go through, that meant he would have about three times to talk to Pepper and apologize. He knew Ms. Robertson would be watching all of them throughout the activity, so Pepper and he were bound to speak at some point. As silly as this game was, it was also the perfect opportunity to try and make amends with his hurt friend.

"Start, NOW!"

Tony's eyes stared at the first person in front of him and he smiled. "Jack, right?"

"Yes." Jack responded with a nod. "Hey, man, sorry about earlier. I didn't mean to offend you."

"Oh, no, dude. Don't worry. It's alright."

"Are you sure? You looked pretty upset for a moment there."

"Nah, I'm sure." Tony assured him. "No offense taken. So, hey, how are you liking this Secret Santa thing?"

"It's cool so far. Hey, you and Pepper, you guys are close, right?"

Tony was taken aback and his eyes landed on the ginger for a second before returning to facing Jack. "Yeah, we are. Why?"

"Are you guys, like, dating or something?"

"No, of course not." Tony said and pulled away from Jack as if to distancing himself from the conversation would help the cause.

"Cool! Then, do you know if she's seeing anyone?"

"She's…not…why?" Tony did not like where the discussion was heading.

"Oh, I'mma ask her out!"

"SWAP!" Ms. Robertson's loud voice prevented Tony from saying anything else and before he knew it, he and Jack had been split up.

"Hello, Anthony," Andy said to the young billionaire as Tony sat in his new desk. "It's been five days since we last spoke, and you're _still_ not good enough for Pepper."

"You're still going on about that?" Tony spat. "Get over it, alright? I think it's up to Pepper to decide who is good enough for her."

"I absolutely agree with your statement. She has finally seen that I was correct and this is why she's no longer your friend." Andy smiled.

"What?"

"What, you didn't think I have noticed that you two no longer speak to each other? It is quite obvious since you were practically attached at the hip up to a few days ago."

"You don't know what you're talking about," Tony said, defensively.

"I don't know what made you drift apart, but I do know this, Tony."

"What?"

"She's acting so much happier since you're not around to screw up her life."

Tony was rendered speechless, unable to come up with a retort. It was true that in the past four days she had only seemed annoyed when he was around, and the few times he had been able to look at her without her knowing he was watching her, she had always had a smile on her face. But that did not mean she was happier without him, right?

"SWAP!"

Tony stood up from the seat almost mechanically and moved over to the next desk, his mind too focused on Andy's last words.

"Hi, Tony." The brunette before him said with a shy smile. "Do you remember my name?"

"I, uh…" Tony's eyes landed on Pepper again, and he noticed she was two swaps away from him. He then returned his attention to the girl and sighed. "I don't, sorry."

"It's OK. My name's Jennifer."

"Hi, Jennifer. I'm Tony Stark," he said more out of habit than awareness, his eyes returning to stare at Pepper who was currently trying to maintain a decent conversation with Whitney.

"Yeah, I know that," Jennifer said and then stared behind her to see what had Tony's attention. "She's really hurt, you know?"

"Who? What?" Tony asked and again faced Jennifer as the brunette also shifted her gaze back to the inventor. "What did you say? I'm sorry I didn't quite catch it."

"I said that Pepper's hurt."

"Why? Is she…? What happened to her? Did she fall off the step ladder? Did she say anything to you?" He wondered in his mind and tried to remember if he had seen or heard her fall before he had started daydreaming.

"Not physically; emotionally. And no, she didn't say anything to me, but I can tell these things. I'm very good at reading people. She's been trying to pretend she's fine, but she's very sad."

"Is she, sad?" he eyed the ginger again, his face contorted into one of regret. He noticed with a surprise that his two female friends were yet to kill each other and for that he was glad. His attention returned to Jennifer for the nth time and he gave her an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry I'm so distracted. I…I just…"

Jennifer tilted her head and stared at the inventor with a quizzical look. She then tilted her head to the other side as if trying to see him in a different way. She then straightened out her face and spoke again. "I can read you, too."

"You…you can?"

"Yes?"

"And, what do you see?"

"SWAP!"

Tony groaned and stood up from his current desk to sit on the one on his desk and mentally flinched when he realized who he was sitting with now. "Hi, uhm…"

"You don't remember my name, do you?"

"No, I don't." The inventor rubbed the back of his neck. "Can you say it to me one more time? I'll try to remember it now."

"Abhinav Rajasthani Chopra."

Tony blinked a few times but remained silent. He could not, for the life of him, make his brain connect with his mouth to repeat what he had just heard. Typically, he had no problem pronouncing foreign names, and he in fact enjoyed learning from other cultures whenever he had the chance, but with his current problems and knowing he was going to sit with Pepper in less than ten seconds, he could just not force himself to concentrate. "Can I…Can I just call you ARC?"

"ARC? Why ARC?"

"Your initials?" he flinched, and to his surprise, Abhinav's face shone.

"That'd be cool!"

"Really?"

"Yes! You're giving me a nickname. That means I'm in the club!"

"Club? What club?"

"Your friends' club. I mean, you call Harold, Happy; Rhodes, Rhodey; and Patricia, Pepper. And now, I'm ARC!"

"Yeah…about that…"

"SWAP!"

"Gotta go!" Tony said and quickly stood up from his desk and sat in front of Pepper in the blink of an eye. He eyed the teacher for a moment as she began counting the fifteen seconds when everyone had swapped desks before his eyes turned to Pepper to begin to apologize.

"Pepper, look, about the other day…"

"Dashing through the snow, in a one-horse open sleigh…" the redhead began, her eyes staring at everything except at the boy in front of her.

"Uh, Pepper…why…"

"O'er the hills we go, laughing all the way…"

"Pep! Pepper! What are you doing?"

"Bells on bobtail ring, making spirits bright. What fun is to ride and sing a sleighing song tonight!"

"Pepper!"

"Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way…"

"Why are you singing?"

"Oh! What fun it is to ride in a one-horse open sleigh!"

"Pepper, I'm trying to say something here."

"Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way…"

"Will you stop singing and listen to me, please?"

"Oh! What fun it is to ride…"

"SWAP!"

"No, wait! Pepper!"

"In a one-horse open sleigh!"

Begrudgingly the inventor stood up from the desk and moved to the next, wondering why the hell had the redhead acted the way she had. His eyes stayed on Pepper for a few more seconds, and he was then shocked to see that once Mark had sat in front her, a smile had returned to her face and she was engaging in an actual conversation with the boy.

"So, Pepper told me you guys aren't friends anymore."

Tony's head snapped to face Happy. "She, _what_?"

"She told me you guys aren't friends anymore. That's a bummer. We only have half the school year left and now you'll drift apart before we graduate."

"She said that? When?"

"Last night when we were at Belly Buster's."

Tony's mouth hung. "You…you guys dating again?"

Happy shrugged. "Not sure. Only time will tell."

"You, uh, you still like Pepper?" The blue-eyed boy asked after swallowing the lump in his throat.

"Well, yeah! Why wouldn't I? Pepper's the best! Who wouldn't like to have a second chance with her?"

"Yeah," Tony agreed and rested his back against the seat, shoulders slumped. "Who'd be stupid enough to blow her off?" He said in a sad tone.

"Not this guy," Happy said and pointed his thumb to his chest. "In fact, I might even ask her to be my girlfriend, officially, you know, before the semester is up."

"You…you are?"

"Yeah. I already asked Rhodey to see if he's OK with it since they're best friends and all. I was gonna ask you, too, but since you guys aren't friends anymore, it doesn't matter to you, right?"

Tony's eyes again shifted to Pepper with a pained look at the exact moment Mark had her right hand in his, stroking her knuckles like there was no tomorrow.

"Hey, Tony, are you listening to me?"

"SWAP!"

Tony did not even attempt to care about what Happy had been telling him for the past few seconds and ended up back to his original seat.

With Jack.

"So, what does Pepper like to do?"

"What?" Tony asked.

"I'm going to ask her out, remember? But I don't know what she likes to do. I guess it doesn't matter, right? She'll tell me what she wants. I'll just tell her it is part of her Secret Santa gift, letting her choose where she wants to go."

"You're Pepper's Secret Santa?"

"No, not yet. But I'm going to get her name before next Friday."

"How? Do you know who has her?"

"Yeah, I heard Whitney has someone she hates, and we all know Whitney and Pepper don't like each other, so it's gotta be her."

"Really?" The inventor ask, wheels turning in his head. "It could be anyone, you know?"

"Maybe, but given what I've heard, it has to be Pepper."

"I guess so," Tony responded and then smiled. "Well, if you do end up getting her, you should totally take her to a museum."

"A museum, really? She doesn't seem like the museum type. I was going to take her on a tour of a S.H.I.E.L.D. recruiting agency."

"Oh, no! No, no, no, NO! Big mistake," Tony reassured the boy. "Trust me. I know Pepper. She hasn't told anyone she loves museums, but she does. In fact, last weekend we went to the MET."

"Really? Wow! Thanks for the tip, man! I'm going to cancel our reservation for S.H.I.E.L.D., then."

"No problem," Tony smiled even wider. "Happy to help."

"SWAP!"

"See ya!" Tony said and moved desks.

"Hello, Anthony. We meet again."

"So we do," Tony rolled his eyes. "Hey, why don't we just stay quiet for the next ten seconds? Think you're good enough to do that?"

"Your arrogance only further proves my point that you are harmful for Pepper. See her right now?" Andy pointed to the ginger. "I've never seen her as happy as she is right now."

"She's only happy because she doesn't have to talk to you, Andy."

"Or maybe because she only has to ignore you two more times."

"Why you little…"

"SWAP!"

Tony almost tripped on his quick attempt at putting enough distance between he and Andy, and was again facing the shy brunette. "Hi, again, uhm…"

"Jennifer."

"Jennifer!" he smacked his forehead with his palm. "I'm sorry. I knew your name I just…I was…"

"You're also sad," she said to him as if he had not just spoken at all. "You're the one who hurt her, didn't you?"

"You mean, Pepper?"

"Yes. I can see it. You're sad, but you're also regretful. Have you told her the truth?"

"The truth?" Tony gulped. "What truth?"

"The reason why you hurt her; the reason you lied to her."

"I…I didn't…how…how do you know this?"

"I told you. I'm very good at reading people's…"

"Minds?" Tony spat, wondering if the girl before him was a mutant like Jean Grey.

"Body language."

"Are you?"

"Yes."

"So, can you tell if Pepper will ever forgive me?"

"Do you really want to know the answer?"

"Only if the answer is 'yes'."

"SWAP!"

"DAMMIT!" Tony said as he stood up but then flinched and apologized to Ms. Robertson who was shaking her head in obvious disapproval.

"Watch your mouth, Mr. Stark," the older woman said and Tony nodded. The inventor then sat in front of Abhinav, and by the time the fifteen seconds were up, he could not remember a single word that had been said.

"SWAP!"

Tony rushed to sit in front of Pepper again, and the ginger once again avoided eye contact with him. "Pep, we only have a few seconds so please…"

"Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer, had a very shiny nose…"

"No, no singing! Pepper!"

"And if you ever saw it, you would even say it glows…"

"Pepper! Just hear me out, please!"

"All of the other reindeer, used to laugh and call him names…"

"Pepper!"

"They never let poor Rudolph, join in any reindeer games…"

"Pepper, I just want to say I'm…"

"SWAP!"

"ARGH!" Tony stood up from his desk and moved on to the next one. He desperately tapped his feet on the floor, counting down the seconds until his next chance with Pepper came around. One by one he moved through the desks in their final round and he finally reached Pepper once more.  
"OK, before you start singing again, I just want to say…"

"Have yourself a merry little Christmas," she eyed her extended arm. "Let your heart be light…"

"Pepper…"

"From now on, our troubles will be out of sight…"

"I would have a merry little Christmas if you'd just listen to me."

"Have yourself a merry little Christmas, make the Yule-tide…"

"SWAP!"

And with that final swap and the ringing bell that had followed, Tony Stark had stormed out of the classroom.

xxxXXXxxx

Nine days. That was how long Pepper and he had not talked. Last time she had not spoken to him she had done so for a much longer period of time than that, but this time it felt different, a lot different. Coupled with his anger at how much worse the situation was becoming, he also had to deal with Rhodey's comparison of he and the Grinch – upgrading him from Grouch, apparently – and the cruel reality of his failed attempts at finding the person who had Pepper's name.

After hearing Jack's suspicions that Whitney had Pepper, he had turned on his Stark-charm for the blonde with the sole intent of convincing her to swap names. Whitney had of course read too much into the signs, and he had ended up going out with her on Saturday, and much to his dismay the girl had told everyone with ears that they were dating again. Tony had to break it to her that he had just wanted to catch up with her as part of the Secret Santa activity and his honesty had earned him a slap. And, to make matters worse, the name he had swapped with Whitney had not been Pepper's, but Mark's.

The inventor had then resorted to telling Jennifer what had occurred, and she had agreed to help him find Pepper's name. The girl informed him that she had heard from Happy that Rhona had Pepper's name and the irony of the situation was nauseating for him. But when Jennifer had thrown in that Rhona liked Mark, Tony had walked up to gothic girl, tail between his legs, and had asked to swap the names. The girl had pretended not to care that Tony had Mark's name, but after an hour of hearing her call him every despicable name in the book, she agreed to swap names.

_"I don't know why you want this name. You're weird, Stark,"_ Rhona had told him, and to Tony's disappointment, the girl was right. It turned out that Rhona did not have Pepper, but Happy, and Happy had made up the entire story about Rhona having Pepper's name just so that he did not have to receive a dead crow in a glass jar as a gift. At least, that was what Happy stated he had heard Rhona say was planning on giving him.

The day after he had gotten Happy's name, the frustrated billionaire had heard from ARC that Julia was looking for Rhodey's name to swap as she did not want to give a gift to anyone other than him. Jennifer had told Tony that she had Rhodey but was looking for Happy, so the exchange had been the least painful of all. Tony gave Happy's name to Jennifer and received Rhodey's name in exchange. He had then gone to Julia to swap names only to discover that he had ended up with Jack.

In a surprising turn of events, Happy had approached Tony after being turned down by Pepper to become an official couple – not that he would tell Tony that, and said that he did not want Whitney's name anymore, seeing as all girls in Tony Stark's life were bound to be untouchable, and that he would take anyone else he could get. Happy and Tony exchanged names, and Tony ended up with Whitney and Happy with Jack.

Jack had Jennifer but had stated he was looking for _Stark's friend's name_. Taking advantage of the situation, and knowing damn well that Jack was referring to Pepper, Tony offered to exchange names. Technically, he had given Jack the name of one of his "friends," but it had not been the name he was looking for to grab.

The last exchange left Tony with Jennifer and Jack being shit out of luck with Whitney's name. ARC wanted Jennifer, so Tony and he had swapped, and Tony had ended up with Andy's name.

Cursing his luck he tried one more swap and did it with Mark, who it turned out was gay and liked Andy. Tony had gladly exchanged names, but to his disappointment Mark never had Pepper's or the billionaire's name either. Tony now had ARC.

As such, and after spending days swapping names to no avail, Tony found himself in his lab on Thursday night, staring down at the name of the person he now had to find a last minute gift for. He could not believe how everything had gone from bad to worse in just a week, and despite his attempts at catching Pepper off guard, the ginger refused to listen to anything he had to say, and whenever he thought he had outsmarted her, she had again begun to sing.

If only she gave him one minute of her time. If only she would allow him to explain himself, to apologize, to tell her that he was just scared shitless of losing her as a friend, of putting her in danger for being with Iron Man, even more danger than she already was by being his friend.

If only she knew why Tony hated this damned holiday so very much.

_ If you knew, Pepper, you'd understand why I acted the way I did._

"So, I heard you did _two_ things I told you _not _to do," Rhodey said as he walked inside the lab and stood behind a crestfallen inventor. Tony did not even try to face his friend, and had a pretty good idea what Rhodey was talking about.

"Yeah, I did. But, if it makes you feel better, you were right. I made things worse. I messed up."

"I heard that, too. You ruined Pepper's Secret Santa sketch, by the way. She's pretty mad about that."

"Well, that'd only give her another reason to hate my guts."

"I don't think she can hate you much anymore. I think she's reached her limit with you."

The phrase that was meant to be a joke actually made Tony's artificial heart stop for a second, and Tony's right palm rested on his chest. "That's so not what I want to hear right now, Rhodey."

"Really?" Rhodey challenged and walked around Tony's sitting form to be able to see him in the eye. "Because other than that I don't know what else to tell you other than how much of a jerk you have been lately. You went ahead and ruined this tradition for us by swapping everyone's names like they meant nothing for everyone, and then you told Pepper – PEPPER – possibly the only girl in the world that likes you enough to put up with your bullshit, that you only had her around because she helped you with Team Iron Man. How much of an asshole are you?"

"How much of an asshole am I?" Tony scoffed and looked up at Rhodey. "I could tell you, but I think you can tell me how much."

"Oh, I could go on for days, T." Rhodey admitted. "But since tomorrow is the last day of school and the day we do this Secret Santa thing, I'll save it for once we're on vacation. For now, I just hope you're happy with what you've accomplished."

"Happy? How the hell am I supposed to be happy, Rhodey? I…I screwed up this stupid thing for you, for her, for everyone! And now, after trying so hard to get her name, I ended up with the foreign exchange kid whose name I STILL can't pronounce! If misery is your definition of happiness, then yes, I'm one fucking happy son of a bitch!"

Rhodey was taken aback by Tony's words more than his outburst, narrowed his eyes at him and crossed his arms over his chest. "You've been looking for Pepper's name?"

"Yeah," the inventor responded in a dejected tone as he again stared at the name in his hand. "I wanted her name."

"All this time? All this swapping was to get her name?"

"Yes. Does it surprise you? You already know I like her." He finally admitted to Rhodey, knowing that at this point it made no sense to deny it anymore.

Rhodey arched a single eyebrow. "I thought you were just trying to get back at her by screwing up her sketch, or back at me for telling you not to mess up the activity in the first place."

Tony scoffed. "No. I was just trying to get her name so that she would have to talk to me, even if just for a minute to exchange the gift."

"And, what would you have told her, then?"

Tony sighed and looked up at the ceiling, trying to put his thoughts in order. "I would've apologized for lying to her and telling her I only wanted her here to get her help. I would've told her that she's my best friend and that I've missed her all this time. I would've asked her to forgive me for not telling her I feel the same way about her as she does for me, and I'd let her hit me if she wanted to. And, I would've told her why I hate this stupid holiday, which is the reason why this activity was so hard for me."

"Wait, you mean she doesn't know?"

Tony shook his head. "It's never come up before. She was so excited about Christmas last year I didn't want to burst her bubble."

"So, you were willing to put up with this Secret Santa thing just so she wouldn't find out why you hate Christmas?"

Tony nodded and again looked down. "Didn't do me any good, did it? Now I'm stuck with ARC and Pepper won't talk to me ever again."

Rhodey eyed his broken friend for a few more seconds before he sighed loudly and walked over to him. "Here."

Tony's eyes that were still staring at the floor saw the shadow of Rhodey's arm near him, and when he looked up he furrowed his brow. "What is this?" he grabbed what Rhodey was handing him.

"Pepper's name."

Unable to form a word, Tony unfolded the small piece of paper in his hands and to his surprise it was none other than Pepper's name. For a moment he thought that Rhodey was pulling his leg, but when he saw the official seal of the school on the back of the paper, he knew it was the real deal. "How…how did you get it?"

"I've always had it. Pepper's name was the one I drew from the bag. That's why I didn't want to tell her who I had."

"You mean, all this time that I was trying to get her name, you had it all along?"

"You never asked me, and if you hadn't just accepted that you like Pepper as more than just a friend, I'd never given it to you. Sometimes I wonder if you actually deserve her, Stark."

"I…" Tony swallowed hard, his eyes glued to the paper. "I sometimes wonder the same, too, but…it's up to her. It's up to her to decide."

"You're welcome, by the way," Rhodey added in a sarcastic tone, causing the inventor to mumble his gratefulness and give his friend a hug. Rhodey smiled at seeing Tony be so engrossed and happy to have Pepper's name in his hand and could not help to chuckle at the scene. The great Tony Stark, the arrogant jerk who never took girls seriously, was all excited about making up with the girl he had never thought he would fall in love with. "Damn, Tony," Rhodey began with a shake of his head. "You must have a really good present for Pepper, huh?"

Tony blinked his eyes several times before he lifted his head to stare at Rhodey with wide eyes. His gaze then shifted from the paper in his hands to Rhodey several times and when he finally stared at Rhodey with a deer-in-the-headlights look, Rhodey had a suspicion about what Tony was about to say. "I…I GOTTA GET A GIFT!"

"Oh, my GOD!" Rhodey threw his hands in the air. "Are you serious, dude? You don't have a gift for her? What the hell have you been doing all this time?"

"I've been TRYING to get her name! I totally lost sight of the Secret Santa thing, I just…I was just so concentrated in getting her name that – "

"That you forgot you needed a damned gift."

"YES! Oh, nuts! I…I gotta get her a gift."

"What are you going to her?"

"I don't know," Tony said and paced around the floor and held his head in his hands, ARC's name forgotten on the floor. Rhodey picked up the name of his new gifting partner and sighed. "Crap! Crap! What does she want? What can I get her?"

"She wants a suit."

"I know she does, but I can't make one in one night. The exchange is tomorrow at eight and it's midnight already. There's no way I can have it ready tonight. Besides, I can't very well march into homeroom with an Iron Man suit, now can I?"

"Good point," Rhodey admitted. "How about flowers?"

"Flowers? What kind of gift is that? She deserves something better than flowers!"

"A ring?"

"Wow! Let's not get ahead of ourselves. What about, uh, uhm, ah…"

"Tony, calm down. It's just a gift. Why don't you run to a store and get her something for the exchange but promise her you will get her something bigger later on, and then you get her the suit."

"I guess, I guess I can do that but…what stores are open at midnight?"

"Uh, you've got me. Look, I have to go back to bed before my mom finds out I'm gone."

"What? You're not going to help me?"

"I wish I could, man. But if my mom finds out I'm not in bed, she's going to go check up on you and then she'll wonder where the hell we both are. Plus, now I gotta find a gift for Abhinav Rajasthani Chopra."

Tony's eyes widened when he heard Rhodey pronounce ARC's name with no problem and made a mental note to ask him to help him practice it later on. "You-you're right. Alright, alright, go!"

"OK, man. And just relax. Think about Pepper and what she likes and it will come to you."

"Or I could put on the Stealth Armor and spy on her right now!"

The glare Tony received from his friend was all the warning he needed. "Fine; no spying. And you're right. It will come to me, preferably before eight."

"OK. Don't be late, Tony. Even if you don't have anything big, just please don't be late to the exchange."

"Yes, I know. I know."

"Goodnight, Tony."

"Goodnight, Rhodey." The inventor said and saw his friend leave. Just as Rhodey had said, Tony stopped pacing his lab and took in a deep breath. He held the edges of the piece of paper with his index fingers and thumbs and stared at Pepper's name.

_Relax, Tony._ He thought to himself_. It's going to be alright. Just, relax. You can do this. You've done better, faster. Besides, you have eight hours. Eight hours is enough time to…_

The alarm showing S.H.I.E.L.D. needed help from Iron Man with a mission stopped his thoughts.

xxxXXXxxx

The silence in homeroom was awkward beyond anything anyone present had ever experienced, and the redhead standing by herself at the front of the class was feeling most of it. She had been the last one in line to receive her gift, and now she was the only one _without_ a gift. She and Rhodey had been eyeing the time every now and then, and in the quietness that surrounded them the only perceivable sounds came from the hands of the ticking clock and the random clearing of throats from Ms. Robertson.

Finally, after a long, painful wait the bell rang and everyone but the redhead left the room. As she stared down at the gift in her hands, tears clouded her vision, and she wondered where her Secret Santa was; the same Secret Santa whose name she had pulled out of the name bag.

xxxXXXxxx

The "quick" mission Nick Fury had dragged Iron Man into had not only been longer than expected, but had taken place on the other side of the world. By the time it was all said and done, Iron Man was returning to New York at neck-breaking speed, Pepper's impromptu gift in hand, only to realize he was late; really late.

As in, _**twelve**_ hours late.

_Pepper, I'm sorry._

Rhodey had been sending him texts filled with cuss words, some of which Tony had not even heard before but did not sound pleasant at all. It did not matter if Tony tried to explain what had happened, Rhodey was right. He had let Pepper down, again. He had humiliated her, again. He had screwed up their friendship, again.

_I should've said no to Fury. I should've called Pepper. I should've…_

Shoulda. Coulda. Woulda.

It also did not help when Rhodey told him that Pepper had been his Secret Santa all along. Even when she had been given the chance to exchange, she had stuck to his name, and even after he had practically slapped her in the face with his cruel words, she had still kept his name.

_Andy's right, that bastard! I don't deserve her!_

After a few minutes of begging Rhodey, the boy finally agreed to help him out. Tony was only a few seconds away from the roof of Pepper's apartment complex, and if he timed it correctly, she would be waiting for him up there.

Or, waiting for Rhodey, as she had been misinformed by James himself.

"_She's going out there," _Tony received the text from Rhodey. _"I swear, if you screw this up…"_

"If I screw this up, you can take my Iron Man suit and beat me with it." Tony responded to the text.

_"Glad we think alike,"_ Rhodey answered.

With his advanced tech at his disposal inside his helmet, Tony could see Pepper already standing on the roof, staring down at the cars passing by. It was not as if it was that late for her to have nothing on but pajamas and a jacket, but it was late enough to have been simmering in anger all day, and he knew he was going to be at the receiving end of the mother of all Pepper rants.

The moment she heard the repulsors she looked to the skies, and when she saw it was Iron Man and not Rhodey showing up, she turned on her heel and walked over to the door. Tony reacted quicker than she could walk and hit the doorknob of the heavy metal door with his repulsor, melting it on impact and sealing her only means of exit.

The ginger's aura was fuming, and she crossed her hands in front of her chest. Her face was contorted into one of pure rage, and even in his armor Tony felt vulnerable to whatever she was plotting to do to him. She glared at him as he softly landed on the roof, gift bag in hand, and with a press to his chest his suit retracted back to his backpack. He then removed the backpack from him and dumped it on the ground before clearing his voice and hoped his balls were just crawling up into his body because it was cold around them.

"Rhodey, uhm, Rhodey told me you are my Secret Santa," he began as he looked down at the gift bag in his right hand and took a small step towards her. Pepper did not move an inch or say anything to him, so he took it as a sign that she was waiting for the best moment to strike. "I, I got called on a mission and just got back. I didn't mean to be out today, Pep. It wasn't my intention to stand you up."

_At least she's not singing_, he thought when she did not say anything in return. Then again, that could be a very bad sign for him.

"It also wasn't my intention to hurt your feelings when I said I only wanted you in the lab with me because of Team Iron Man. I lied to you, Pepper. I…I actually enjoy your company very much."

Silence was still her only response, and the inventor took a couple more steps toward her. "I enjoy it so much I felt jealous that you were hanging out with Mark instead of me. I mean, I now know he's gay and all, but I didn't know that then."

To his surprise, Pepper's pose had not changed.

"Listen, Pepper, I…there's something I have to tell you. I tried to tell you during homeroom but…"

"Shut up, Tony. Just shut up and give that gift to your girlfriend, Whitney."

"Whitney? Pepper, why would you…oh, no. It's not true, Pepper. I'm not dating Whitney. I'll never make that mistake ever again."

"That's not what she kept telling me today after you stood me up in homeroom."

"Pepper, she's crazy. She just wants to piss you off. Don't believe a word she says; I'm not interested in her."

"Funny you say that, because I'm not interested in listening to you speak. Go home!" She turned on her heels and ran back to the door. The metal had cooled down by now, and even though she knew it would be impossible, she still pulled and pushed on the door, trying to get it to open. When she could not get it to budge and felt Tony walked up closer to her she began banging on the door, screaming for help. When that did not work out she ran to her left and stared down at the fire escape attached to the side of the building.

"Pepper, wait, don't do it. The fire escape is way too low."

"I told you I don't want to hear you talk!" She spat back and began making calculations of how much the jump was going to hurt.

"Pep, please…"

"Stop talking!" She said again and placed one foot on the ledge of the building, readying herself to jump, but it was then that she heard Tony stop speaking…

And began to sing.

"Have yourself a merry little Christmas…"

Pepper shook her head, still not turning around to face him even though she could feel him coming closer to her. She scoffed at herself for singing the next line of the song in her mind that she herself had sung in homeroom to avoid talking to Tony, but was surprised to hear Tony sing it differently than it should have been.

"Let me make this right…From now…Our troubles will be out of sight."

_That's not how the song goes_, Pepper thought, wondering if Tony was purposefully changing the lyrics or if he really did not know the song at all.

"Have yourself a merry little Christmas," he continued. "Please forgive my sin…From now on…Our troubles will be miles away."

Curiosity made her return both feet to the roof, if only to confirm her suspicions as to why he was changing the song.

"Here we are as in the olden days…If you let me in, of course…Faithful friend, you're so dear to me…Gather near me 'gain."

Her shoulders that had deflated at some point stiffened up again when he rested his hands on her waist from behind, and his forehead on the back of her lowered head to whisper the rest of the altered song in her ear.

"Through the years we'll always be together…If you so much allow…Pepper, dooon't leave me now, please don't goooo…And let's have ourselves a merry little Christmas…now."

Tony closed his eyes and waited and when he felt her hands pull his from her waist, he felt defeat befall him. He had just returned from crushing a group of terrorist with his bare hands – and the suit, of course – but none of that compared to the fear of losing his redhead friend forever. He took a step back to give her space, but was surprised when she turned around, threw herself at him and surrounded his neck with her arms.

It took him a nanosecond to respond but he did, and he buried his head in her neck and surrounded her waist with his arms. Having her so close again made his soul ache in yearning, and he placed a chaste kiss on the side of her face. "I'm so sorry, Pepper. I didn't mean what I said. I was just mad for not having you with me. I like, I _love_ having you with me all the time."

"You're positive?" She asked but refrained herself from reading too much into his words and actions for now.

"Yes, Pepper, I am. As positive as that I didn't purposefully mess up your sketch swapping names with everyone. I was looking for your name. I wanted to be the one to give you the gift."

Pepper then pulled herself away from him and stared at the gift bag by their feet. She eyed Tony expectantly and he understood what she wanted to do. He bent over and grabbed the bag and handed it to her. "Merry, uh…Secret Santa, Pep."

Pepper smiled widely and grabbed the bag, taking a moment to read the card on the side. Tony's was taken aback when she laughed aloud, and when she placed the card near his face, he frowned. "Oh, dammit! I meant to say _Santa_, not _Satan_, Pepper. I was in a rush!"

"I know, Tony. Just giving you a hard time," she said and then quickly began throwing away the decorative paper on top and then dug her hand inside it. She let the bag fall to the ground and gasped when she saw what her gift was. "Oh, my gosh! Oh, MY gosh! Tony! Is this? Is this what I think it is?"

Tony smiled. "Yup. I was in the Helicarrier so I thought: might as well. That's not your real present, though. I'm going to give you one that I actually buy."

"You mean you took this from S.H.I.E.L.D. without permission?" she asked as she began putting the jetpack on her back.

"Yup. Nick Fury screamed at me when I was leaving to not take it, so I told him to send me the bill."

Pepper laughed aloud again. "Wow! This is doubly-awesome, Tony! Can I try it now?"

Tony shrugged. "Sure, why not."

The ginger practically squealed and ran to the opposite side of the building. Tony barely had time to catch up with her before she turned on the jetpack, jumped of the ledge…and then fell down.

"PEPPER!" Tony's efforts were not fast enough, and Pepper's body plummeted to the ground.

Days later Tony would find out that Nick Fury was not mad that he took the jetpack; he had just been trying to warn him that the one he was taking was a defective one.

xxxXXXxxx

Luckily for the redhead, a tree had broken her fall. However, it had also broken her leg in the process. Then again, a broken leg was better than a broken head. Tony had rushed her to the nearest hospital, and after hearing that she was going to be alright he had returned to Pepper's home to tell Virgil he had just inadvertently caused the almost-death of his only child.

It had been a miracle Virgil had not killed him right then and there, and it had been a greater miracle that he had let Tony visit Pepper at the hospital five days later. Unfortunately for Pepper, the doctor's had required her to stay in the hospital until after the year ended, which meant Pepper had spent Christmas Eve and Christmas tied to a hospital bed. She had been visited by friends and family of course, but she had missed the actual festivities and had to settle to seeing everyone for a measly two hours in the afternoon.

The current moment was also annoying her as hell as she watched on television how the current visitors to Time Square waited for the ball to drop. After complaining that the patient she had shared her previous hospital room with protested about anything and everything she did, Tony had arranged for her to have her own private room, and this was the only reason she had been able to have the television on so late at night.

_Just two more days, Pepper, and you will be out of here!_ The redhead told herself before her eyes fell on the large floral arrangement Tony had brought her. Every time he had visited her he had apologized profusely, and had even brought her two more gifts. One she was currently wearing around her neck: a simple yet elegant silver necklace she knew had cost more than $20 despite Tony's assurances that it had not. The second was an actual working jetpack she was not sure she would ever try on after this.

The ginger sighed when she saw only a few minutes remained until midnight, and she would have to then bore herself to sleep. The hospital was practically closed down for the night and the next day, and only minimal staff was available to help the patients who could not go home yet. Her eyes then shifted from the television to the cast on her leg and she smiled when she saw Tony's signature on it.

_I wonder what's going to happen between us now_, she thought, recalling the lyrics he had changed for the song he had sung to her. She had been fighting the urge to ask what he had meant by being together forever if she allowed them to be, but after seeing him almost every other day and staring at the heart he had drawn on her casted leg, her patience was running thin.

"Damn you, Tony Stark."

"Well, boo! If I'd known you were cussing me out, I'd have stayed home, Pep."

"Tony!"

Iron Man flew inside the ten-story window and landed softly on the floor only to immediately retract his suit back into his backpack. He then removed the backpack from him and left it by the window before walking over to Pepper, leaning down to her face and kissing her forehead. "Did I miss the drop?"

"No," she said to him and scooted over to the side for him to sit on the bed next to her. "We've got a few minutes left."

"Good," he took in a deep breath and cleared his throat. "Then we've got some time to talk."

"Talk? About what?" She asked, eyes looking at the countdown for the ball to drop displayed on the screen.

"Well," he began fidgeting. "About…about what I wanted to tell you on the roof…"

"Oh," she said and pretended to not show she was dying to know what it was. "What is it?"

"Uhm, well, you see, I…I wanted to tell you why I was so moody the last weeks of school."

"You mean that you hate Christmas?"

Tony was taken aback. "What, you know?"

"Rhodey told me," she shrugged. "He didn't tell me why, but he said you haven't celebrated Christmas in, like, forever."

"Yeah, that's true," he said and then with a shaky hand took Pepper's right hand in both of his. The redhead's breath hitched in her throat but she still curled her fingers around one of his hands, and she was rewarded by a warm smile from the inventor. "But there's a reason why I hate it, and I want to tell you now."

"I gathered from Rhodey that it was bad, so don't force yourself to tell me, Tony. I don't have to know everything about you."

"But I want you to know, Pep. If we…if we're going to take the next step between us, then I want you to know."

Pepper had to use all of her willpower not to ask him to clarify what he meant by 'next step' this very moment and resorted to just nodding to him. "Very well, then. I'm all ears."

"OK," Tony sighed, alternating between staring at the countdown on the screen and at Pepper's face as he spoke. "When I was four years-old, my mom was pregnant with my brother."

Much to her dismay, Pepper could not hide the surprise from her face. "You…you have a brother?'

"No. I don't," he said and sighed again. "My mom, she was due sometime around Christmas. My dad didn't know if we were even going to be around the house for Christmas Eve, so we didn't put up the tree until the day before Christmas Eve. I was upset that my brother was going to be 'delivered by Santa Claus,'" he chuckled and Pepper patted his left shoulder with her left hand.

"Anyway, that night my mom went into labor, so we all went down to the hospital. I waited outside with my dad for a long time. Finally, the doctor came back to see us but instead of talking to the both of us, he took my dad away and left me with a nurse."

Pepper had an idea of where this was heading, so she placed her left hand on top of the one that covered her right one.

"Turns out Howie, that was going to be his name, didn't make it, and that caused my mom to get sick, too. The doctors tried reviving him and her, but in the end there was nothing they could do for them. Needless to say, that year Santa Claus didn't come to our house, or any of the years afterwards."

"Tony," she whimpered, tears forming in her eyes for him.

"Last year I gave you and Rhodey presents because I didn't want any of you to ask questions. Rhodey kinda already knows; we just have never actually talked about it. In fact, it was because of it that I met Rhodey later on when he and his mom showed up at the house for my mom's will. I wasn't sure what I was going to do this year to avoid it, and seeing as my dad is no longer around either, I didn't have any reason to celebrate, again."

Pepper was about to open her mouth again to say something, anything, to try to console him, but Tony beat her to the punch and spoke again.

"I didn't have any reason to celebrate again" he repeated. "Until I met you."

Whatever Pepper was about to say, she instantly forgot when his deep sapphire eyes stared at her hazel ones. "I wasn't sure what it was at first, so I didn't make a big deal out of it last year, but then this year, after all the things we've been through, and the fact that you're still here with me, I…I started to _feel_…things…for you…"

The ginger's eyes landed on the red and gold heart doodled on her cast and Tony chuckled when he realized what she was looking at. "Yup, those kinds of feelings."

Pepper swallowed hard and steeled herself to stare up at him, the slightest hint of doubt still in her eyes. "Are you trying to say…? Do you mean…? The next step…"

"Pepper, I –"

_"Alright, everyone! It's time! 10, 9, 8…" _The host of the ball drop in Time Square interrupted them. Their eyes landed on the small screen, and they held their breaths as the famous ball began its descent. Pepper felt his grip in her hand tightened, and she gave it a light squeeze in response. _"4, 3, 2, 1…Happy New Year!"_

The classic sound of _Auld Lang Syne_ began playing in the background as the cameras focused on the celebration taking place around them. Pepper and Tony smiled at the scene, and when the ginger's eyes shifted from the television to him to wish him a Happy New Year, her words were silenced by his lips on hers.

They lost track of how long they kissed, and by the time they pulled apart the song had ended, leaving nothing but the howling and excited screams of the still partying citizens on screen. Pepper looked down and gulped, afraid to stare at him to see any type of regret on his face.

"Happy New Year, Pep."

"Happy New Year, Tony," she responded and was forced to face him when he lifted her head by her chin and dried some of the remaining tears she had shed for him. He gave her a smile and a wink, and Pepper felt her cheeks burning up.

"Heat of the moment?" she asked him, referring to the kiss and he shook his head at her.

"No. Hope that you wanted it – and _me_ – too."

"Can I…can I ask for a replay? You know, to seriously consider it?"

The inventor gave her a sideways smile. "Thought you'd never ask," he uttered and kissed her for a second time, and a third…and a fourth…and then lost count.

Never again did Tony Stark hate Christmas once more, all thanks to having his redhead by his side for the rest of his life.

* * *

**A/N:** So, what did you think? Will that hold you until I start working on the sequel for TLM? I hope it does since I don't have a specific timeframe for you, but it _will _be written.

Anyway, hope you enjoyed it and Merry Christmas, Kwanzaa, Hanukkah or whatever celebration you engage in :) Oh, and a Happy New YEAR!


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